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False-Men of Nomen Ryne
The arch-heretek Nomen Ryne has plagued tech-priests of the Malfian and Golgenna subsectors since he issued his Precepts Mechanicus in the 4th century M41. Originally a Levelist, he taught a tech-focused form of that suppressed creed of equality: that the God-Emperor provided mankind with technology as weapon and shield against the darkness and that it was His most ardent desire that all men be so armed, equally and in brotherhood. Ryne declared the Mechanicus to be slavemasters and sought to spread techknowledge to all. Nomen Ryne vanished into hiding some few years after the issuance of his Precepts, declared heretek by Mechanicus and heretic by Ministorum. The Cult of Sollex hunted Ryne’s followers most zealously, as their number included many known for their skill in constructing unsanctioned cogitators. It is not known whether Ryne himself was the originator of the unholy Thirteenth Pattern of Cogitation, a way to construct cogitation cores that is reviled by the Calixian Mechanicus. By the 9th century M41, such questions of origin have become unimportant. The Thirteenth Pattern is endemic amongst outlaws of Golgenna and Malfian hives; devices and unsanctioned cogitators travel the black paths of smugglers and pirates alongside vox-heresy and scofflaw augmetic limbs. The Mechanicus hatred of Ryne has not diminished, as his name and influence have only grown over the centuries. Cults arose with the spread of cogitation-heresy, such as the Children of Ryne who worship the arch-heretek as an Imperial saint. It was through these cults that the Mechanicus and the Ordos first learned of the false-men of Nomen Ryne, for the false-men are angels in the eyes of Ryneite hereteks. Enough false-men have been dismantled by the Ordos for their nature to be clear, albeit horrifying. The false-man is a machine built to appear as a heavily augmented tech-priest, incorporating all the traditional Mechanicus cybernetic modifications, or at least the appearance thereof. A falseman is capable of volition, speech, and planning—more than enough to cast it as the forbidden Silica Animus, an attempt to recreate the dread Men of Iron and so bring back horrors of the Dark Age of Technology. But false-men are paltry manikins by comparison to the Men of Iron. Their speech is disjointed and often irrelevant, as though mad or mind-rusted. Their reactions to circumstance are similarly telling—unexpectedly violent, strange, or illogical. Their movements are off-key and inhuman, exactly as though a machine pretended to be a man. Yet they can construct techdevices, plan ahead, and perform the functions of a fabricator tech-adept. False Machine Temples populated by false-men exist in the Malfian subsector. The Children of Ryne believe falsemen bring messages and new tech-patterns from Nomen Ryne himself. Some false-men claim to be Nomen Ryne. It is possible that insanity and a strange form of ascension to life eternal in the embrace of the machine lies behind these centuries of heresy—but both the Cult of Sollex and the Ordos Calixis are set on destruction of the false-men and are little interested in answering deeper questions. False-Men Characteristics False-Men information Move: 3/6/9/18 Wounds: 12 Skills: Awareness (Per), Chem-Use (Int), Common Lore (Tech) (Int) +20, Logic (Int) +10, Scholastic Lore (any one) (Int), (Int) +10, Secret Tongue (Techno-Cant) (Int) +10, Speak Language (Low Gothic), Tech-Use (Int) +10. Talents: Binary Chatter, Electrical Succour, Energy Cache, Luminen Charge, Luminen Shock, Mechadendrite Use (any), Pistol Training (Bolt, Las, Plasma, SP). Traits: Machine 4, Natural Weapons (Fist or Mechadendrite). Armour: None (All 4). Weapons: Unarmed (1d5+1† I; Primitive), laspistol (30m; S/–/–; 1d10+2 E; Pen 0; Clip 30; Reload Full; Reliable), luminen shock (1d10+3 E). †Includes Strength Bonus. Gear: Basic MIU interface, up to three other cybernetic devices—such as mechadendrites—appropriate to a fleshless being, tools, dataslate, personal cogitator, 2 laspistol clips. Threat Rating: Hereticus Minoris. Category:Hostile NPCs